State and Ed tech Policy

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      It is no debate that technology has become number one on public agenda when it comes to schools.  At least, it is no debate in my mind with the growth in the amount of technology that has been thrown into our schools and classrooms.  But, I still have a question about all of this technology into the classroom.  Obviously the state plays a huge role in the ed tech policy throughout the state of Indiana, but are they playing a good role?

      If you were asked what they new and “hot” technology of today’s schools was, you would most likely say I-Pads, and personally I would say you were right.  That being said, I’m not going to talk about this, I would like to dive deeper into the bases of all technology, the Internet.  Without having accessible Internet in the classrooms, I-Pads are pretty much pointless.  So what percentage of schools do you think have Internet access in their school??

      In 2010-2011, the Indiana Department of Education spent roughly 4.3 million dollars towards 22 schools for “Classroom Innovation Grants.”  That is a lot of money for schools to use to add technology to the classrooms, but what about the basic Internet in other schools?  What percentage of computers in classrooms do you think have access to Internet the students can use??  Any ideas?  Well according to National Center for Education Statistics, 93% of these computers have access to Internet.

      I don’t know about you, but that was surprising to me, I personally thought that number would have been a great deal lower than it is.  Technology runs on that one thing called the Internet and it is the base to start building off of.  However, from looking at that statistic, it would seem as though the schools are set up with a solid base to start building off of.   That ties back into the thought about how they got that base, the answer… Indiana policies.  So all of that being said, I personally think that the state government plays a huge/important role in the educational technology policy that is created and are a big factor in these technologies.

"How Indiana Schools Are Integrating Technology In The Classroom." Indiana RSS. State Impact, n.d. Web. 26 Feb. 2013.

"Fast Facts." Fast Facts. Ies, n.d. Web. 26 Feb. 2013.

 

Fed Gov and Policies...

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            Some something that has been bugging me recently and I am curious on is why are there so many policies that are created by the national government?  There is a policy about making a policy, a policy for how a policy can be used, a policy to initiate another policy, etc.  There are so many policies in our world and it can be overwhelming and confusing for even someone of high educational status.  So the question that I would have for someone to try and answer for me is how much is to much?  Is there someway to cut down on the amount of policies that the government puts out?

            Continuing with that theme of having to many policies, as technology continues to grow in our universe, the amount that is spilling over into the educational world is overwhelming.  I remember back when I was in elementary school we had a chalkboard and a projector.  To me back then I thought it was high tech in a sense, however now I am blown away by the influx of technology in our schools.  That all being said, certainly we can make an educated guess and say that the government has created a policy for this growth of technology in the classroom.  So is the government overdoing it again with these policies?  Are they pumping to much technology into the classroom without training teaches?  The questions could go on and on but there is no real answer to any of these questions.

            We live in a world of pollution, waste, and excess.  And these are just descriptive words for the policy that the government pumps into our schools again and again…